Backup software is used to perform a complete back up of a file, data, database, system or server. It enables users to make a duplicate of everything contained on the original source. This type of software is also used to perform a recovery of the data or system in the event of a disaster.
Making file backups is an essential activity for all users, yet many users do not take adequate steps to protect their data. Whether a computer is being used in a corporate environment, or for private use, the machine's hard disk may fail without any warning signs. Alternatively, some data loss occurs as a result of human error. Without regular backups being made, data will inevitably be lost even if the services of a specialist recovery organisation are used.
Whilst it has always been possible to use command line tools to backup files in Linux, this can be a daunting task for beginners and end-users. This article explores how making regular backups can be a painless task. We explore backup software with intuitive graphical interfaces, applications that backup systems with snapshots, whilst not forgetting the powerful command-line tools that exist.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 21 high quality free Linux backup tools. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone who wishes to safeguard their hard work.
Now, let's explore the 21 backup tools at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action (where relevant), a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
| Backup Tool (Graphical User Interface) | |
| Areca Backup | File backup software developed in Java |
| BackupPC | High-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up PCs |
| Bacula | Network backup, recovery and verification |
| fwbackups | Feature-rich backup sofware |
| Keep | Backup system for KDE |
| Simple Backup Solution | Set of backend backup daemon and Gnome GUI frontends |
| Backup Tool (Command-line) | |
| afbackup | Client-Server Backup System (GUI is also available) |
| AMANDA | Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver |
| Cedar Backup | Local and remote backups to CD or DVD media |
| Duplicity | Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup |
| Dump / restore | Dump and restore utilities for ext2/ext3 filesystems |
| tar | Tar archiving utility |
| Snapshot backups | |
| FlyBack | Equivalent of OS X's Time Machine |
| Time Vault | Snapshotting daemon |
| Synchronisation | |
| rsnapshot | Local and remote filesystem snapshot utility |
| rsync | Fast remote file copy program |
| Disaster Recovery / Disk Cloning | |
| Clonezilla | Offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost |
| Mondo Rescue | A powerful disaster recovery suite |
| PartImage | Backup partitions into a compressed image file |
| PING | Also offers similar functionality to Symantec Ghost |
| Specialist | |
| Zmanda | Perl-based utility to automate backup and recovery of MySQL databases |
